Aphrodite's Hairbrush
by MariaClaire
Summary: Aphrodite's favorite hairbrush has been stolen and she needs Piper and Annabeth to help her get it back. Needless to say, they're not thrilled. Especially when Aphrodite leaves them with the cryptic message that even something you believe is lost forever can find a way home. WARNING: This story contains cursed jewelry, shoe-throwing psychopaths, and spoilers for Blood of Olympus.
1. Part One

*****NOTE: Just a quick warning, this story does contain spoilers for **_**The Blood of Olympus**_**. This is a two-part story. The second part will be up in a couple of days. Also, disclaimer: This world and these characters belong to Rick Riordan, I'm just borrowing them and causing them problems.*****

A double date had seemed like a good idea, right up until Piper's mom appeared. Fortunately, Piper was alone in her bedroom when Aphrodite, goddess of love, showed up in a shower of rose petals. Unfortunately, Piper was in the process of getting dressed and she didn't yet have a shirt on.

"Mother!" Piper snatched a towel off the back of her desk chair and quickly wrapped it around herself.

"Nothing I haven't seen before, dear. I _am_ your mother." The goddess looked agitated. "Besides, we have bigger problems right now. I require your assistance."

Piper secured the towel more firmly around her. "You have got to be joking."

It had only been two months since Piper and her friends had last _assisted_ the gods with a problem; namely, killing a band of bloodthirsty giants and destroying the Earth Mother Gaea. The fight had cost Piper one of her best friends. A lump still formed in Piper's throat every time she thought of Leo, though she hadn't lost hope that she would see him again one day. But for Aphrodite to show up now and ask for help again, so soon, well, that made Piper mad.

Apparently, from the hard glint in her mother's eyes, this was an emotion they were sharing. "No, Piper, I am not joking. Something terrible has happened and I need the help of my most powerful demigod child."

Piper crossed her arms. "And why should I help you again?"

Aphrodite pursed her lips. "Because I am your mother. And because I am the goddess of love. Things are going so well for you right now, aren't they? I would hate for anything to throw your relationship off track."

Fury rose in Piper's throat like bile. Blackmailed by her own mom? Piper nearly took a swing at the love goddess. Instead, she forced herself to take a deep breath. Arguing with Aphrodite wouldn't do any good. Piper was a hero. She may not be happy about yet another quest, but she could handle it. And deep down, _really_ deep down, she was just the tiniest bit pleased that Aphrodite had come to her for help. Her mom needed her.

"Fine, I'll help you," Piper said. "But first, can I put on a shirt?"

Aphrodite's stormy mood vanished the instant Piper agreed to help. The goddess beamed at her. "Of course, dear. Go right ahead."

Piper stared at her mother for a moment. Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "Oh for goodness sake, Piper." But the goddess turned to face the wall.

Piper quickly hung her towel back up and grabbed the turquoise shirt she'd laid out. She was already wearing her jeans. While she dug in her drawer for a pair of socks, she asked, "So, what's the big emergency?"

Aphrodite turned back around. Her eyes were full of tears. "My hairbrush is missing."

Piper dropped the socks she was holding. She gaped at her mother. "Come again?"

"My hairbrush is missing." The goddess plopped herself down on Piper's bed and sighed dramatically. "It's my favorite hairbrush, capable of creating any style you could wish for with just a few brushes. And it's gone."

Piper was tempted to bang her head against the wall, but that wouldn't accomplish anything. She considered bonking Aphrodite with the hilt of her sword, but that probably wouldn't help either. Instead, she picked up her socks and sat down in her desk chair to put them on, still staring at her mother. "How the heck am I supposed to find a hairbrush in New York City? I assume it _is _somewhere in the city?"

Aphrodite had taken out a compact mirror and was now checking her reflection. "Oh yes. I believe the fools took it to Fifth Avenue. That's the most likely place for them to go about getting their makeovers, after all."

"Wait, you _know_ who took your hairbrush? _And_ where they went?"

"Mm-hm." Aphrodite pulled a tube of lipstick out of thin air and began to reapply her makeup.

"Why can't you just go get it yourself?"

Aphrodite finished applying her lipstick, studied her face a moment longer in the mirror, then snapped the compact shut. "As I told you on the Acropolis, my dear, we gods need mortals. I cannot go after the Lemnian women myself. But you can."

"The Lemnian women." The name rang a tiny bell in Piper's head, but she couldn't place the story. "So, they stole your hairbrush and then went to Fifth Avenue to go shopping for makeovers?"

"Yes."

Piper put her face in her hands for a three count. "You realize I have a date in an hour?"

"Don't worry, dear. I pushed your reservation back until eight o'clock. Two hours should be plenty of time for you to accomplish this task. Especially since I'll allow you to take your friend along to help."

_Great_, Piper thought, though she could only imagine Annabeth's reaction when Piper gave her this news. "How am I supposed to get this all-important hairbrush to you?"

"You can meet me at the Pulitzer Fountain, in front of Central Park." Aphrodite rose and smoothed down her dress. "And I can give you some advice. Seek out your sister Harmonia. She may be able to aid you."

"Oo-kay," Piper said. "Where can I find Harmonia?"

"I'm sure you'll figure it out, dear." Aphrodite smiled. "See you at eight! And Piper dear? Try not to be late. It's not nice to leave your date waiting."

Piper gritted her teeth, but before she could respond, Aphrodite wiggled her fingers like _Toodle-loo_ and disappeared in a pink, perfumed cloud.

* * *

><p>Piper quickly finished getting dressed, then headed out of her room. The dorm was quiet. At six o'clock on a Friday evening, most people were out, especially since the Friday night curfew wasn't until one a.m. Piper's room was at the end of the hall, so all she had to do was turn right to reach the staircase that led up to the junior floor.<p>

Piper hadn't planned on attending her sophomore year of high school in New York, but towards the end of the summer at Camp Half-Blood, she had decided it might be nice to spend some time in the mortal world. After the way her summer had gone, she wanted a bit of a break from the world of gods and monsters. Her dad had agreed and Piper had enrolled in the same boarding school Annabeth attended. Annabeth was a junior and Piper was a sophomore, so their rooms were on different floors, but as Piper reached the top of the stairs, she was glad that at least her best friend was nearby, even though she doubted Annabeth would be happy to hear Piper's news. Nevertheless, she took a deep breath and knocked on her friend's door.

Annabeth smiled when she opened the door. "Hey, Piper. What's up? I thought we weren't leaving until six-thirty?"

Piper made a mental note to tell her friend that the purple and gray striped top she had on looked really cute, but at the moment, they had more pressing problems. She hated to ruin Annabeth's good mood, but they only had two hours to complete the ridiculous quest. "That was the original plan," Piper said. "But my mom just dropped in for a visit. And she needs our help."

Annabeth's smile melted. "Please tell me you're joking."

"I wish. Aphrodite's favorite hairbrush was stolen and she wants us to get it back for her."

"Okay, now I'm sure you're joking."

"I swear on the River Styx, that's what she told me," Piper said. "And yeah, I think it's just as ridiculous as you do."

"But we're supposed to meet Percy and Jason in an hour," Annabeth said. "We have reservations."

"My mother moved our reservation back to eight," Piper said. "Also, she may have threatened to wreck our love lives if we don't help her."

Annabeth's gray eyes turned Category 5 hurricane dark. "After everything we did this summer, she had the nerve—"

"I know," Piper said. "But she did tell me she knows who took the hairbrush and told me where we can probably find them."

Annabeth looked like she was counting to ten in her head. She took a deep breath. "Okay, fine. Let's just get this over with."

"That's the spirit," Piper said.

* * *

><p>After sending a quick Iris-message to let Percy and Jason know that their reservation got pushed back (though they didn't tell the boys why), Piper and Annabeth caught the subway to Fifth Avenue. On the way, Piper filled Annabeth in on what her mother had told her about the Lemnian women and Piper's sister Harmonia.<p>

"The Lemnian women," Annabeth mused. "It sounds familiar, but I can't remember the story. I recognize the name Harmonia, though. She's a daughter of Aphrodite and Ares; she's also the goddess of, well, harmony."

"Oh yeah." Piper remembered reading about Harmonia when she'd researched Greek myths with her dad, movie star Tristan McLean, for his role as the king of Sparta. Unfortunately, she also realized why Aphrodite had sent them to find her. Her stomach twisted. "The necklace of Harmonia."

"What?"

"Harmonia's necklace. It was a wedding present from Hephaestus." Her voice caught on the name Hephaestus, but she swallowed and quickly continued. "But the necklace was cursed. Hephaestus originally thought Harmonia was his daughter, but then he learned she was, well, actually a result of Aphrodite cheating on him with Ares. He didn't take it well."

"So he cursed Harmonia?" Annabeth said. "Not cool."

"Not cool at all," Piper agreed. "Because the necklace didn't just curse Harmonia. It cursed anyone else who owned it. It's not a nice piece of jewelry."

"But we have to find it," Annabeth grumbled. "Any idea where to start looking?"

As the train pulled into the station, Piper caught a glimpse of an advertisement plastered to the wall. She suddenly felt like she was in one of those old cartoons, where a light bulb goes off over the character's head to show they've had an idea. "Oh, that's too easy," she muttered.

"What's too easy?" Annabeth asked.

Piper pointed to the advertisement. It had a blue background with a solitaire diamond ring in a box and white letters on it. "What better place to look for a necklace than the ultimate jewelry store? We're going to Tiffany's."

* * *

><p>Piper wasn't much of a jewelry person; it tended to get in the way when you were fighting for your life. But she had to admit that the pieces in the cases at Tiffany's were gorgeous. Jewels sparkled in their gold and platinum settings, lit by soft lighting. The atmosphere of the store was reserved but also kind of stuck up. Piper had been forced into enough boutiques and high-end stores by her dad and his old assistant Jane to know. A saleswoman gave Annabeth and Piper a cold smile, quickly dismissing them as potential customers, before turning to give a much friendlier smile to an older couple who had walked in behind them. Piper didn't care. She just wanted to get in, find the necklace, and get back out. They still had to figure out who and where the Lemnian women were and it was already six-thirty. Only an hour and a half left.<p>

"Too bad Hazel's not here," Annabeth murmured as they walked through the store, browsing the display cases for anything that might be a cursed necklace. "She could probably find that stupid necklace in two seconds."

Piper nodded. A flash of movement caught her eye and she turned just in time to see another saleswoman moving towards a door marked "Employees Only." Just before she went through the door, the woman looked over her shoulder at Piper and Annabeth with wide, frightened eyes. Then she ducked through the door and was gone.

"Did you see that?" Piper asked.

Annabeth nodded grimly. "I'm guessing we should follow her."

Again, Piper wished that Hazel was here, this time to use her Mist abilities to hide them as they made their way to the door. The two of them tried to move casually, to avoid drawing attention to themselves, but Piper's heart was pounding. She didn't want the woman to get away. They reached the door and after a quick look around to see if anyone was watching, slipped through.

The moment the door closed behind them, Annabeth gasped. Piper looked at the room around them and gulped. "Somehow, I don't think this is what the mortals see when they come through this door."

The room was the size of a warehouse, with fifty foot tall ceilings. It was so large Piper couldn't see the back wall. And it was filled with enough gold and precious stones to give a jewel thief a heart attack.

There were hundreds of display cases, softly lit like the ones in the Tiffany's store. Inside the cases were pieces of gold and silver jewelry carved in all different types of intricate shapes, some set with stones the size of Piper's fist. Scattered amongst the various display cases were golden statues of lions, elephants, and humans, some nearly as large as the Athena Parthenos statue. These concerned Piper a lot more than the jewelry in its cases; the statues' ruby, sapphire, and emerald eyes glinted like they were alive. But maybe it was just a trick of the light. She hoped so.

"What is this place?" Annabeth murmured.

"You should not have come," a mournful voice said.

Piper and Annabeth both whipped around. Behind them stood the saleswoman Piper had seen walk through the door. She was wearing a simple black wrap-dress and black high heels. Her caramel colored hair fell over her shoulders in waves. Her eyes were still wide and frightened but now that she was closer, Piper realized the woman's eyes were a lot like hers, the colors swirling almost like Aphrodite's ever-changing eyes.

"Harmonia?" she asked.

The woman nodded. "Yes, little sister. I am Harmonia, the wretched daughter of Aphrodite and Ares."

That didn't seem like the most promising start to a conversation, but Piper forced herself to smile. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Piper. This is my friend Annabeth, daughter of Athena. We actually came here to find you. I'm looking for Mom's, um, hairbrush and she said you might be able to help."

"You're here about the necklace, I suppose?" Harmonia sighed.

Piper and Annabeth exchanged glances, then Piper said cautiously, "Yes. We just need to borrow it, though. Aphrodite suggested it might help us recover her hairbrush from the Lemnian women."

"Ah. The women of Lemnos stole the brush. Yes, the necklace could help you against them."

"Great," Piper said. "So, may we borrow it?"

Harmonia shook her head. "It's not that simple. You do not want this gift, little sister. If I give you the necklace, I will also bestow upon you its curse. And after three thousand years, the curse has only grown in strength. It used to take years to come to fruition. Now, the curse acts upon its owner within minutes."

A bitter taste filled Piper's mouth. "What exactly is the curse?"

"The necklace grants its owner youth and beauty; that is guaranteed. But the curse takes a unique form each time, bringing about the downfall of its owner in new and frightening ways."

Piper was liking the sound of this less and less. She and Annabeth exchanged looks again. "So, if you can't give us the necklace without cursing us," Annabeth asked, "what are we supposed to do?"

"Steal it, of course," Harmonia said matter-of-factly.

"Excuse me?" Annabeth said.

"A thief never truly obtains an object. Possession will always remain with the original owner," Harmonia explained. "But if I were to give my blessing to a thief then perhaps, just once, they could then gift that object to another, making them the true owner of the necklace and, therefore, the curse."

This explanation made Piper's head spin, but it sounded reasonable. "Okay. Where do we find the necklace?"

Harmonia snapped her fingers. A hundred yards away, golden light erupted from a display case. "The necklace is there. However, you need to be aware that it won't be easy to steal. The moment you attempt to take the necklace, the guardians will attack."

Piper's heart dropped. "The guardians?"

Harmonia spread her arms. "This is the Room of Cursed Objects, a storeroom for all those objects cursed by the gods over the millennia. All such objects eventually find their way to this room, but are not easily removed."  
>"Fantastic," Annabeth muttered.<p>

"Quite," Harmonia said, completely straight-faced. "If you manage to retrieve the necklace and escape the room alive, come find me outside Tiffany's. I will give you my blessing to bestow the necklace on a new owner and perhaps help you locate the women of Lemnos so that you may recover our mother's all-important hairbrush."

"_If_ we survive?" Piper asked.

"Good luck," the goddess said. She turned and walked back through the door, into the mortal jewelry store.

Annabeth checked the time on her cell phone. "Six forty-five. Piper, we'd better make this a quick robbery."

The two of them set off, winding around the display cases. Now that Piper was aware that the room was packed with cursed objects, she could almost feel the malevolence radiating off of them. "Don't touch anything," she warned Annabeth.

"Wasn't planning on it." Annabeth shuddered. "This stuff just feels evil. Also," she lowered her voice, "I think the statues' eyes are following us."

Piper had been thinking the same thing. Trying to ignore the jumpy feeling in her chest, she changed the subject. "I figured out who the Lemnian women are."

"That's good news. What did you remember?"

"It's not a nice story," Piper said. "The women of Lemnos, this Greek island, forgot to make the proper sacrifices to Aphrodite. As a punishment, the goddess cursed them by making them smell horrible."

"That's unusual."

"And gross. Apparently the odor was so bad, their husbands didn't want to be with them anymore. The men went out and got new wives, then brought them back to Lemnos."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Which, understandably, made their original wives upset. But the way they got revenge…" Piper winced. "They murdered their husbands."

"That's horrible!" Annabeth looked as disgusted as Piper felt. "But shouldn't they be dead?"

"They should be," Piper agreed. "Maybe they came back through the Doors of Death before we closed them. They were nasty and crazy; Gaea probably had some plan for them."

The moment she finished saying that, Piper flashed onto the moment when they had defeated the Earth Mother, when Leo had unleashed the explosion that destroyed Gaea, and suddenly her eyes blurred with tears. Grief was like that. Piper would just be going along, minding her own business, and then suddenly grief would come up and sucker-punch her in the stomach. Even after two months, the pain of losing Leo was like a knife wound to her heart. Piper found herself thinking of things she wanted to tell him, then realizing she couldn't. That was the hardest part. She knew Jason was still having a hard time, too. They had talked about it. But all they could do was keep hoping he would come back. The more time that passed, though, the harder it was to believe.

"Piper?" Annabeth asked gently.

Piper didn't realize she had stopped walking. She was standing with her fists clenched, trying to get a grip on herself. She blinked the tears out of her eyes. "I'm—I'm okay."

She clearly wasn't, but Annabeth just nodded and patted her on the back. Piper took a deep breath and continued moving toward the glowing golden column. When they got closer, she could see the necklace inside, sitting on a purple velvet cushion.

"Wow," Annabeth breathed as they walked up to the glass display case. "It's amazing."

Piper had to agree. The necklace was made up of two solid gold snakes. The tips of their tails touched to make the clasp. Their scales were carved with such meticulous detail that they appeared to glisten like real reptiles. In the front of the necklace, both snakes had their mouths open, revealing razor sharp fangs. And held between them was a massive opal, as large and round as an eyeball. The opal shimmered with different colors. The patterns were mesmerizing. Piper felt that she could watch the colors shift all day.

"It makes sense that it's an opal," Annabeth said. "They're often called cursed stones."

Piper blinked, trying to shake herself out of the gem's trance. "I've heard that too. So, how do we steal it?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Break the glass?"

"A plan worthy of Athena," Piper said, the corner of her mouth turning up.

"Oh, shut up, McLean. Now, do you want to do the honors, or should I?"

"On it." Piper drew Katoptris, her dagger. She'd left her Boread sword at home; it was a little large to carry around Manhattan. Annabeth drew her drakon bone sword, which she had strapped to her jeans. Considering no one had given them funny looks on the subway, Piper assumed the Mist had been disguising their weapons. Piper raised Katoptris and slammed the hilt of the dagger into the glass, which shattered.

She'd expected to hear alarms ringing, but there was only silence, which made her even more uneasy. She reached for the necklace, but Annabeth grabbed her wrist. "Wait. Maybe we shouldn't touch it."

"Good point." Piper pulled the sleeves of her jacket down over her hands. Even through the cloth, she could feel the warmth of the gold. Whether it was because the necklace had been sitting under the lights or whether it radiated its own heat, she wasn't sure. "Okay, let's get out of—"

Before she could finish her thought, Piper heard a horrible grinding noise. When she looked back the way they had come, Piper's stomach dropped into her shoes.

Every statue in the room had just turned to look at them.


	2. Part Two

Annabeth said what Piper was thinking: "Run."

It was the only choice that made sense. The two of them couldn't fight off an army of automatons. As it turned out, speed was probably the only thing that saved them. The golden statues were heavy and slow. Their joints creaked as if they hadn't moved in a very long time. Annabeth ducked as a golden tiger pounced, narrowly missing her. Piper dodged out of reach of a twenty-foot tall human statue with sapphire eyes that reminded her eerily of Jason's eyes. She rolled out of the way of a bronze ostrich (seriously? What god cursed a bronze ostrich? Who even _made_ a bronze ostrich?) and came up still holding the necklace. Annabeth slashed her sword across a silver and gold parrot that flew at her, cutting off its wing. The parrot squawked loudly as it spiraled into a display case containing a ruby ring. The instant the parrot touched the ruby, a miniature mushroom cloud went up. The shockwave from the explosion blew the glass out of every display case within twenty feet. Annabeth and Piper were showered with glass shards, though luckily none were big enough to cause much damage. The cuts stung like crazy, though.

They had nearly reached the door when Piper heard a trumpeting noise behind them. She made the mistake of looking back, only to see an enormous golden elephant charging towards them.

"Gods of Olympus!" Annbeth yelped. She dove for the door and yanked it open, shoving Piper through before pulling the door shut behind both of them.

Piper doubted the wall would stop a ten-ton elephant, but the instant the door shut, all noise from the warehouse of cursed objects was cut off. It was as if the room ceased to exist. Both girls were breathing hard. It took Piper a moment to realize that everyone in Tiffany's was staring at them. She straightened up and hid Harmonia's necklace behind her back, hoping the Mist would help to conceal it, as the saleswoman who had dismissed them earlier came hurrying over, looking scandalized.

"What on earth were you two doing?" the woman hissed. "That is an employee only area!"

"Sorry," Piper said, trying to force charmspeak into her voice, even though she was still out of breath. "We were looking for the restroom."

If it was possible for the woman to look any more scandalized, that did it. She drew herself up, her jaw set. "This is a high-end jewelry store. We do not have a _public_ restroom. I suggest you leave before I call the police."

"Not a problem." Annabeth grabbed Piper's arm and pulled her toward the store's front door. "We're out of here."

* * *

><p>Harmonia was waiting for them on the street.<p>

"We got the necklace," Piper said, holding it out.

Harmonia smiled, which surprised Piper. "Well done, little sister. As a thief, you will be free of the necklace's curse. But I relinquish my own claim on the jewel. The next person you gift it to will receive both the blessings and the curse of my necklace. So choose wisely."

"I will," Piper said. "Now, where can we find the women of Lemnos, who stole Aphrodite's hairbrush?"

"Oh that's easy," Harmonia said. "They're in a place that's perfect for a makeover—clothes, shoes, accessories, a salon, all in one place."

"And that place would be where?" Annabeth asked.

Harmonia's smile widened. "Why, Saks Fifth Avenue, naturally."

"Naturally," Piper replied.

"It's about six blocks that way." Harmonia pointed down the street, annoyingly in the opposite direction from Central Park and the Pulizter Fountain where Piper was supposed to meet her mother in exactly an hour. "Good luck!"

The goddess shimmered and disappeared.

"Well," Annabeth said, pursing her lips, "let's go shopping."

* * *

><p>To Piper's surprise, the Lemnian women were incredibly easy to find. It helped that there were about fifty of them and they were all running around the department store like lunatics, sprinting up and down the elevators, flinging clothes off the racks, wreaking havoc on the make-up counters, and having what looked like a shoe-fight. Piper had no idea what the mortals thought was going on—maybe this just looked like a sale day, or Black Friday shoppers, even though that pseudo-holiday was almost two months away.<p>

Annabeth groaned. "Give me a drakon or some Cyclopes over this any day."

"Agreed." Piper watched in fascinated horror as one of the women ripped a dress out of the other's hands, then began to beat the loser with a hanger. The sight was seriously disturbing, but it did give her an idea. "Come on, we need to figure out which one has the hairbrush."

Annabeth scanned a nearby directory of the store. "Let's try the salon."

They made their way through the store, ducking flying shoes and make-up brushes. While they walked, Piper quickly explained her plan to Annabeth. When they reached the salon, Piper knew immediately that they'd come to the right place. In the center chair sat a woman who was sitting regally, like a queen on her throne. She was fixing her long, dark hair with a pink hairbrush, inlaid with mother-of-pearl swirls on the handle. Even from a distance, Piper could see that the hairbrush glowed with a soft golden light. The woman used the brush to sweep her tresses up into a perfectly formed bun, which stayed in place even though Piper hadn't seen her use any hair pins. The woman lightly brushed a few more strands, which instantly sprang into curls that framed her face. She leaned towards the mirror, tapping the brush against her chin, studying her hairdo. As Piper watched the woman, who was clearly a queen, another name from the story of the Lemnian women came back to her.

"Hypsipyle!" Piper called.

The woman turned slowly in her salon chair until she faced Piper and Annabeth, who were standing in the salon's doorway. "Who dares to address the queen of Lemnos?"

"I do." Piper stepped forward, holding Harmonia's necklace out in front of her. She glared at the queen. "You stole my mother's hairbrush."

Hypsipyle sneered. "You're a child of Aphrodite? Did she send you to retrieve this?" The queen waved the brush in the air. "That is _so_ not going to happen. Don't you understand? With this hairbrush, and perfect hair, I will be able to find a new husband, a better husband, one who will never leave me!"

Piper turned to Annabeth and sighed. "Well, we tried. I guess my mother was right. The queen doesn't want her new gift."

Annabeth did an impressive job of looking sad. "That's a shame. I mean, personally, I'd choose eternal youth and beauty, but maybe perfect hair is a good enough substitute for _some_ people."

Queen Hypsipyle sat up straighter. "Eternal youth and beauty?"

"Yeah, this necklace would give you that. My mother sent it as a gift for you, the queen of Lemnos, to make up for all that horrible odor business. But I guess you're not interested." Piper spun on her heel and gestured to Annabeth. "Come on. We'll just have to tell Aphrodite we failed."

"Wait!" Queen Hypsipyle rose from her seat, a greedy look in her eyes, just as Piper had hoped. "I must have that necklace. Take the stupid hairbrush. With eternal youth and beauty, I wouldn't have to settle for one husband. I could have as many men as I wanted. Hundreds of men!"

Annabeth gagged. "That's repulsive."

Piper elbowed her. She kept a pleasant smile on her face and raised her voice. "Yes, Queen Hypsipyle. I bestow this necklace upon you. It will GRANT ETERNAL YOUTH AND BEAUTY TO ITS OWNER."

The sounds of fighting in the store died down. Piper could feel the eyes of the Lemnian women upon her. Hypsipyle wasn't the only one who wanted youth and beauty and the attention of men. All the women of Lemnos had been rejected by their husbands. As she'd walked through the store, Piper realized that the women were similar to the _mania_ of Jason's mother, who had appeared in Ithaca. They were crazed, craving the things that had been denied to them in life. Piper wasn't sure exactly what was going to happen next, but she guessed that things were going to get ugly.

Steeling her nerves, she stepped forward and presented Hypsipyle with Harmonia's necklace. "This belongs to you, my queen."

Hypsipyle snatched the necklace out of Piper's hands. "Mine!"

She clasped it around her neck. The opal glowed briefly and the queen closed her eyes. "Yes. This will do nicely. A fine gift from the goddess of love, before she is destroyed."

"What?" Piper asked, caught off guard.

Queen Hypsipyle opened her eyes. Her smile was as cold as a snake's. "You didn't think, Piper McLean and Annabeth Chase, that when you defeated Gaea all of the gods' enemies would go silent? The Olympians have made many enemies over the millennia. And you demigods made several powerful enemies this summer. Did you think they would ignore you, now that the Earth Mother is gone? No, there are those who would seek revenge."

Piper shot Annabeth a look. They hadn't been counting on this. Annabeth drew her sword and pointed it at the queen. "What are you talking about?" she asked, her voice low and fierce. "How do you even know who we are?"

Queen Hypsipyle laughed. Her focus was completely on the demigods, but out of the corner of her eye, Piper saw the other Lemnian women moving towards the queen, all of their greedy eyes fixed on her necklace. "Gaea made sure all her servants knew the details in the bounties she set on the Seven. There are still others who are willing to pay for your capture. And the price for you two, Piper and Annabeth, is very, very high."

The queen snarled, Annabeth raised her sword, and Piper fumbled for her dagger. But before the fight could begin, a figure lunged at the queen. Several more followed suit. The queen shrieked, but she collapsed as the other Lemnian woman tackled her, all grabbing for the necklace around her throat.

"No!" Hypsipyle shrieked. "Get off me, you wretches. I am the queen! NO!"

Piper and Annabeth stumbled back from the mob. Within a minute, every one of the Lemnian women was entangled in the fight. Piper wanted to close her eyes, but she was afraid of being attacked herself if she looked away. Instead, she forced herself to watch as the women of Lemnos ripped each other apart in their crazed battle to obtain the necklace.

The fight didn't last long. The women dissolved like the spirits in Odysseus's palace in Ithaca. The last one left was Queen Hypsipyle, who managed to gasp out a final, "No!", fingers grasping for the necklace, before she dissolved. As its new owner disappeared, the necklace, too, faded away.

Piper was shaking. Next to her, Annabeth looked nauseated. "That was horrible," Annabeth said.

Piper didn't answer. There wasn't anything else to say. Instead, she walked forward and picked up Aphrodite's hairbrush, which was lying amidst the remnants of the fight. "At least we got what we came for."

Annabeth's hands were trembling as she sheathed her sword. "But what Hypsipyle said about other enemies of the gods and the bounties still being on our heads—do you think she was telling the truth?"

Piper desperately wanted to believe that the queen had been lying, but in her heart she knew it was true. "Yes."

They locked eyes. Piper saw raw fear and anger in her friend's gray eyes. "We'll never be safe," Annabeth whispered.

"No. I refuse to believe that." Piper took a deep breath. "Look, we'll figure it out. It doesn't matter tonight. The Lemnian women are gone and we now have," she checked the store clock, "fifteen minutes to get this stupid hairbrush to my mother at the Pulitzer Fountain. Let's finish solving one problem before we deal with the rest."

* * *

><p>They reached the Pulitzer Fountain at eight o'clock on the dot. Piper spotted Aphrodite standing near the fountain with her arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently on the ground.<p>

"Here," Piper said, slapping the hairbrush into her mother's hand. "You're welcome."

Aphrodite raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow. "Lose the attitude, Piper. Though I_ am_ grateful, my dear. To both you and Annabeth."

"Save it," Annabeth said through gritted teeth. "What do you know about the bounty that's still on our heads?"

Aphrodite twirled her hairbrush, which disappeared in a flash of golden light. "That _is _my favorite hairbrush," the goddess sighed. "And as for the bounty Gaea put on your heads, I believe that is still in effect, yes."

Piper felt like she was trying to swallow Harmonia's massive opal. "So fix it. Get rid of it."

"I wish I could, dear." Aphrodite looked genuinely sympathetic. "But it's not that simple."

"I'm getting really tired of hearing that," Annabeth said.

Aphrodite waved her hand and suddenly the holes in both girls' clothes mended themselves. Their hair was perfectly brushed and styled, Annabeth's in long loose curls, Piper's in a French braid. "I'm afraid there is nothing I can do about the bounties, my dears. That is a problem you will have to solve for yourselves. But because you did me this favor, I can help you tonight. You both look lovely and I've changed your reservation to eight-thirty at Antica Bottega del Vino's, just across the way. It's a very nice restaurant. Feel free to order whatever you like; it's on me."

"That's it?" Piper asked. "'Sorry, you'll probably be murdered, but have a nice dinner?' Mother!"

Aphrodite sighed again. "Piper, you will have to trust me. Since Python returned to Delphi, the future has become murky, even to the gods. But I _can_ foresee that tonight you will be safe. Enjoy yourselves." She didn't add _while you can_, but to Piper it felt implied.

"Also," Aphrodite glanced at the sky, which struck Piper as weird, "I told your boyfriends to meet the two of you just across the street in Central Park. That open space next to the pond should be right."

"Right for what?" Annabeth asked.

"You'll see." Aphrodite gave an infuriating smile. "Now, I really must be going. Thank you again, girls, for finding my hairbrush. And Piper, my sweet, let this be a lesson to you. Never lose hope. Sometimes the things we lose have a way of coming back." On that annoyingly cryptic note, the goddess vanished.

All the energy drained out of Piper. "Why do I feel like that entire quest was just a waste of time?"

"Probably because it was," Annabeth said bluntly. "Whatever. At this point, I just want to find Percy and Jason and go to dinner."

"Ditto," Piper said. "At least my mom's paying."

* * *

><p>They found Jason and Percy right where Aphrodite had said they would be, standing on an open lawn in Central Park, not far from the Plaza Hotel and the Pulitzer Fountain.<p>

"Hey." Jason smiled in greeting and Piper's heart fluttered. "How's it going?"

Piper shrugged. "My mother just sent Annabeth and me on a stupid quest to recover a lost hairbrush so, you know, a typical day in the life of a demigod."

Jason kissed her cheek, which made Piper feel slightly better. "Did you find it?"

"Yep. And returned it to Aphrodite, who told us dinner is on her."

"Awesome," Percy said. "So where are we going?"

"Antica Bottega del Vino," Annabeth said, frowning. "Though I'm not sure why Aphrodite sent us here, instead of just having you guys meet us at the restaurant."

An ear-splitting roar cut through the air. All four of them reached for their weapons, but Piper hesitated to draw Katoptris. Something about that roar…

The roar thundered out again and now Piper was certain there was something familiar about it. Her eyes shot skyward, but she couldn't see anything. Besides, it couldn't be…

Percy frowned. "That almost sounds like—"

Piper met Jason's eyes, seeing in them the same spark of hopefulness she felt. The two of them knew that roar. But she couldn't quite believe it.

And then a column of fire shot from behind a skyscraper. Piper's heart thudded against her ribs as a massive bronze dragon swooped out of the sky from the tunnel of Fifth Avenue and landed majestically on the lawn in front of them. A skinny Latino guy with curly dark hair slid off the dragon's back.

Leo Valdez grinned. "'Sup, my peeps?"

There was a moment of completely stunned silence, during which all four of them simply gaped at Leo and Festus, who had appeared out of absolutely nowhere.

Then Piper lost her mind.

"Leo!" She shrieked and flung her arms around him, knocking them both to the ground, and kissed him right on the lips.

"Geez, Beauty Queen, miss me much?" Leo laughed.

She punched him in the arm. "I—you—Nico said—we thought you were dead, Valdez!" And then, because she hadn't made a big enough fool of herself already, Piper burst into tears.

"Aw, Pipes." Leo helped her to her feet and gave her a hug. "Nah, I'm good. Great, actually."

Jason came over and practically tackled Leo again in a bear-hug. "Dude. It is _good_ to see you."

"Yeah, bro, you too." Leo clapped Jason on the back. "Man, I'm really feeling the love here."

Piper gave a shaky laugh, wiping her eyes as the boys broke apart. Before anyone could say anything else, a second figure slid down from Festus's back. The girl looked to be about fifteen or sixteen. She was wearing sandals, jeans, and a white shirt, with her long hair braided over her shoulder. Her almond-shaped eyes were wide as they traveled over the buildings, the park, and Leo's friends.

"Oh yeah." Leo stepped forward and took the girl's hand. "Guys, I'd like you to meet—"

"Calypso." Percy's voice was tight, like there was a lump in his throat.

Calypso narrowed her eyes. "Perseus Jackson."

There was a tense silence, then Percy blurted out, "I'm sorry. I should have made sure the gods kept their promise to free you, but I didn't and I'm—I'm sorry."

Calypso looked surprised, then she smiled. "I forgive you. Besides," she glanced at Leo, "I think everything worked out for the best."

Relief washed over Percy's face. "Yeah. Yeah, it did."

After that, the tension in the group dissipated. Leo introduced Calypso to everyone, Annabeth and Percy both hugged Leo and told him how good it was to have him back, and Festus nuzzled Piper, who kissed his warm metal nose.

"Do I have to worry about you kissing my boyfriend?" Calypso asked Piper, but her voice was teasing.

"Only when he comes back from the dead," Piper promised.

Over Calypso's shoulder, she saw the way Leo's face lit up when the goddess (or former goddess?) called him her boyfriend and Piper smiled.

"So how long was I gone?" Leo asked. "What is today, August tenth, eleventh?"

"October second," Jason said.

The color drained out of Leo's face. "Huh."

"Don't worry about it, man." Percy clapped Leo on the shoulder. "I lost six months once. You'll recover."

"I told you we should have taken a right at Brazil," Calypso said.

"Yeah, well, I guess you were right, Sunshine." Leo ran his fingers through his hair, then grinned again. "At least this way I missed all the post-battle clean-up."

"Not quite," Jason said. "Bunker Nine is still a mess. We, uh, kind of left it for you."

Leo's grin widened. "Sweet. 'Cause I need to get Festus back there and finish fixing him properly. Disintegrating primordial goddesses makes a huge mess."

Festus's jaw creaked as he yawned. The ground shook as the dragon collapsed and curled up like he was going to take a nap.

"Okay, buddy," Leo said. "Uh, rest up and then we'll head back to Camp Half-Blood."

Sparks flew from Festus's nostrils as he snored.

A thought occurred to Piper and she turned to Annabeth. "I need to see your phone."

"You know calls attract monsters, right?" Annabeth said as she handed Piper the cell phone.

"We have a fifty-ton metal dragon on our side. They can bring it on." Piper quickly dialed a number. While it was ringing, she said, "Leo, get over here."

He looked perplexed for a minute, then smiled. "Are we alerting our California friends?"

"Ssh. Reyna, hey, it's Piper. Pretty good, how about you? Good. Listen, are Hazel and Frank around? Oh, really? Awesome. Can you put Hazel on? Thanks." Piper put the cell phone on speaker and handed it to Leo while Reyna passed the phone to Hazel, who had apparently stopped into the praetor's office to speak with Reyna and Frank.

After a moment, Hazel said, "Hello?"

"_Hola, mi amiga._"

Silence.

"Leo?" Hazel's voice sounded tiny, as if she desperately wanted to believe what she was hearing, but was afraid someone was going to tell her it was a trick. Piper blinked back tears again.

Leo swallowed. "Yeah, Hazel, it's me."

"Oh my gods! You're alive? You're back? The physician's cure worked?"

"_Si, si_, and _si_. Uncle Leo's back, kids!"

"Oh my gods!" Hazel squealed again. There was a shuffling sound on the other end of the line, like maybe Hazel was putting Reyna's phone on speaker. "Frank!"

"Yeah, I heard." Frank's voice sounded gruff, but happy. "Dang, Valdez, I never thought I'd be this glad to hear your voice."

"I love you, too, man."

"So what happened?" Hazel asked. "Did you find—"

"Yep." Leo grinned at Calypso. "Found my way back to Ogygia, swept a goddess right off her feet, and brought her to the Big Apple."

Calypso rolled her eyes. "Oh please, Leo Valdez. You _know_ I still hate you."

"When are you coming out to California?" Hazel demanded.

"Soon," Leo promised. "Just wanted to let you guys know I'm back. And, um, thanks, Hazel and Frank. For everything."

"Glad it worked out, man," Frank said.

After they said their good-byes to Frank, Hazel, and Reyna, Leo handed Annabeth back her phone. "So," he asked, "what's the plan? Any mayhem on the schedule?"

Piper and Annabeth exchanged a look and silently agreed not to tell the others what Queen Hypsipyle had told them about the bounties still being on their heads. Not tonight, not when Leo and Calypso had just come back. "Actually," Piper said, "we have dinner reservations in ten minutes. Let's see if we can get that bumped up to a table for six."

As it turned out, she didn't have to. Aphrodite had already made their new reservation for six people.

"She knew!" Piper said when they were seated. "How did she know?"

Percy shook his head. "I stopped trying to figure out the Olympians a long time ago. Just go with it."

"_That_ is some first-class advice," Leo said.

Piper had to agree. She wondered if her mother had sent her after the hairbrush just to kill time until Leo could arrive. If so, maybe Aphrodite really did care about Piper and her friends. As she looked at her friends gathered around the table, happy and laughing, Piper decided to take both her mother's and Percy's advice. She would just go with it and enjoy tonight.

**THE END**

* * *

><p><strong>***After reading <strong>_**Blood of Olympus**_**, I had to finish the story this way because LEO! Seriously, I hope Rick Riordan at some point does a short story where Leo comes back. Maybe there'll be some clue about it in **_**Crown of Ptolemy, **_**the third Kane/PJO crossover. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this story! Thanks for reading! : ) **

**QUICK BoO REVIEW:**

**I actually really loved this book. SPOILERS AHEAD I think there was a lot of good character development, especially for Jason (and I thought it was hilarious that he needed glasses-now maybe he won't get hit in the head so much!). I also liked seeing more of Piper and Annabeth's friendship, as well as some friendship develop between Leo and Percy. Leo in general I still love and I thought the final scene was sweet. Originally, I was disappointed about not having Percy, Annabeth, Frank, or Hazel's POVs, but those four did kind of dominate House of Hades, so I understand why RR let the others shine here.**

**Have to admit, before the book came out I wasn't super excited about getting Reyna or Nico's POVs because I was mostly interested in the Seven, but then I read Reyna and Nico's chapters and they were awesome! So much love for these two characters and the way they handled their quest. Also, the way Nico told Percy he used to have a crush on him was great and Percy's reaction was just priceless.**

**I did feel like the plot could have used a few breathing moments. For example, it would have been nice to see what happened on the Argo II after people came back from their quests, like when Jason comes back injured, or Frank/Hazel/Leo/Percy return with a tied up victory goddess, or when Piper and Annabeth get back from fighting Mimas. I just really enjoy reading the scenes with the Seven all together. **

**Also, obviously, I would have loved a few more Percabeth moments, but the ones we got were pretty awesome (and, honestly, House of Hades was really, as Rick said himself, the "Percabeth book"). SPOILER AHEAD Possibly my favorite scene in the book is when they are waiting to walk out onto the Acropolis and looking at the place where Poseidon struck the ground and Percy kisses Annabeth and says the most adorable quote ever, "The rivalry ends here...I love you, Wise Girl."**

**Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book; it was right up there, for me, with Mark of Athena and I think it was a good finale to the series. Now, can't wait to read about Magnus Chase! And _Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes! _And the next Kane/Percy crossover, of course!**


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